How Property Law Shapes Our Landscapes

This article considers John Orth’s ‘generalisations/reappraisals’ in the law of property, offering an addition to that list concerning the way in which the historical development of the law of property provides a tool for the shaping of the physical world in which we live. Having reviewed Orth’s approach, the article contains three parts. The first, entitled ‘History Shapes Law’, examines the historical development of the modern Anglo-American easement. The second, ‘Law Shapes Landscape’, explores how it is that property law shapes our landscapes. The third, ‘Landscape Shapes Law’, concludes by noting that our modern landscapes themselves create a new set of social, political and economic circumstances, the very sort of catalysts for shifts in context that previously drove, drive, and will drive in the future, the development of the easement (and property law generally), allowing for further shaping of the physical world.